Press Releases

FTA Activities

15 March 2018--While aquaculture development in the U.S.
moves along at a relatively sluggish pace, the same cannot be said for other parts of the world.

Aquaculture development in Europe continues on pace to compete with other
parts of the world--Asia, in particular.

Fisheries Technology Associates has been actively assisting clients during
the past several months to understand and grow aquaculture on the European continent. Governments in the European Union understand the importance of aquaculture and its prominence in future
food production. As such, they actively encourage aquaculture producers and investors and, for the most part, present a reasonable and unified front when it comes to regulations.

The same cannot be said for the U.S., where regulations are multi-layered
(federal, state, and local governments), sometimes confusing, and often contradictory and obstructive.

The regulatory climate in Europe is much more inviting, while at the same
time preserving reglations that protect the environment.

We have focused most recently on projects in Greece, Spain, and
Ireland. Each of these nations promotes aquaculture, but with a strong understanding that aquaculture cannot be a part of our future without environmental and cultural sustainability and
stewardship as basic strategies.

We applaud these attitudes and look forward to contributing to the success
of our clients.

Biosecurity becoming an increasingly important factor in aquaculture

6 October 2016--In a changing and more threatening world, aquaculture producers are moving to more secure methods to produce their finfish and shellfish.

Specifically, shrimp farmers find it increasingly difficult to produce their crops with a high degree of confidence they will reach market size. Too often, disease or other threats intervene
to create what can be a nightmare scenario.

Outdoor shrimp ponds come under attack from predators (usually birds and mammals), disease organisms (e.g., Vibrio, white spot syndrome virus, and others), and sometimes even thieves. These
unwelcomed visitors can decimate crops and destroy what would otherwise be a profitable production cycle.

Fisheries Technology Associates has been asked by an American client to aid him in upgrading several large shrimp farms in Mexico to greater standards of biosecurity and safety for resident
shrimp. The process involves moving production indoors, and eliminating the ability of predators and diseases to impact production.

Our work will begin very soon, and extend well into the future as more and more shrimp producers make the transition to indoor, biosecure production.

Aquaponics and marijuana production: a match made in heaven?

20 July 2016--In a state where the production and consumption of both medical and recreational marijuana are legal, we are seeing interest in integrating the production of fish
with the production of marijuana.

As a logical extension to the production of lettuce and tomatoes and other high-value vegetables, we have been approached to apply aquaponic production technologies to the production of marijuana.
In our view, this "production partnership" makes perfect sense.

The products of aquaponics are high in quality and help to reduce discharge from aquaculture facilities, if not eliminate it all together. Within the state of Colorado, cannabis production
occurs almost exclusively indoors. Using fish-production effluents to fertilizer pot plants is a logical expansion of the original theme where production can occur indoors on a year-round
basis, even during a cold Colorado winter.

We will be working closely over the next year to help our client develop production capabilities with both fish and marijuana, and do it in a way that is highly sustainable and uses no pesticides
(a process called integrated pest management) and high-quality feeds and other raw materials.